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Wednesday, December 30, 2015

How to Camp Out, by John M. Gould

These past few months I have been doing a bit of reading on 19th century
camping, and I came across the above book. It was first published in 1877, and
contains one of the earliest discussions I have been able to find of
recreational backpacking. Of course, the term “backpacking” did not exist at the
time, so the practice if referred to as “traveling afoot”. Most of the book
focuses on camping with the use of wagons or other transport, but I found the
few sections on early backpacking very interesting.

The author, John M. Gould, draws his references and experience from the civil
war, and much is based on the experience of a soldier of the march, modified for
a recreational purpose.

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About Wood Trekker

I love the outdoors. I was born and raised in Bulgaria, but currently live in the US. I don’t know much about the woods, but I’m happy to share the little that I do know. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at gilmore.ross@gmail.com.